Reuters Sports News Summary

Olympics: Doping-tainted weightlifting must reform or risk 2024 Games spot

Weightlifting will have to pass several hurdles to prove it is doping-free or it risks losing its established Olympic spot for the Paris 2024 Games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Friday. The IOC had said in July that the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) needed to provide a satisfactory report by December on how it plans to tackle the problem of doping in the sport.

Motor racing: Honda set top-three goal with new partner Toro Rosso

Formula One engine supplier Honda, having parted ways with McLaren, is setting its sights on challenging among the top-three next season with new partners Toro Rosso, a senior executive said. McLaren and Honda announced a long-awaited divorce on Friday, calling time on a troubled three-year partnership.

Tennis: Honors even for Belgium, Australia in Davis Cup semis

Belgium and Australia took one point each in two thrilling Davis Cup semi-final matches on Friday, with David Goffin returning from injury to beat John Millman and Nick Kyrgios overpowering Steve Darcis in five sets in Brussels. Seeking their second final in three years, Belgium went ahead with Goffin, the world number 12, coming from a set down to beat Millman, ranked 185, 6-7(4) 6-4 6-3 7-5.

Olympics: Korea crisis no problem for Pyeongchang: North Korean IOC member

The Pyeongchang winter Olympics in February will not be affected by the escalating crisis on the peninsula and North Korea will hopefully be able to send athletes, the country's International Olympic Committee member Chang Ung said on Friday. Chang, a vice president of the North Korean Olympic Committee (NOC), said that so far no athletes from North Korea had qualified and any participation was subject to an NOC decision.

Former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is confident that next year's Winter Olympics in his native South Korea will be safe and successful, despite tensions surrounding North Korea's nuclear weapons program. Less than five months before the start of the Games in Pyeongchang, world powers are grappling for a response to a series of nuclear tests by the North and its repeated test-firing of ballistic missiles, of which the latest flew over Japan and far out into the Pacific on Friday.

A first batch of athletes suspected of having been part of a Russian doping ring at the Sochi 2014 Winter Games may soon be charged by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the head of the investigation said on Friday. IOC member Denis Oswald said evidence gathered so far will be combined with results of tests to determine whether urine and blood sample bottles had been tampered with, to replace positive samples with clean samples.

Motor racing: Red Bull and Renault brush off engine 'speculation'

Renault and Red Bull have both described as "speculation" reports that they will be ending their engine partnership after next season. The pair won four consecutive drivers´ and constructors´ titles together at the turn of the decade but the relationship has been fractious since a new 1.6 liter V6 turbo hybrid power unit was introduced in 2014.

Golf:'Lucky' ace vaults Day into share of BMW clubhouse lead

A "lucky" hole-in-one vaulted former world number one Jason Day into a share of the second-round clubhouse lead with American Rickie Fowler at the BMW Championship outside Chicago on Friday. Day's tee shot at the 188-yard par-three 17th landed just in front of the green, took a couple of bounces and trickled into the hole, much to the Australian's surprise.

Serbia ran out 87-79 winners over Russia in their Eurobasket semi-final on Friday after a superb surge midway through the first half put them on the road to victory in a tough, tight encounter in Istanbul. They will meet Slovenia in Sunday's final, which will be the first time two men's senior national teams from the former Yugoslavia clash in a European basketball decider.

Texans' Watson celebrates birthday with 13-9 win over Bengals

Deshaun Watson passed for 125 yards and had a 49-yard TD run in his first career start on his 22nd birthday, lifting the Houston Texans to a 13-9 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday night at Paul Brown Stadium. DeAndre Hopkins was targeted 13 times and had seven catches for 73 yards for the Texans (1-1), who avoided their first 0-2 start since 2015.